Jack Hamlin, a farmer in southwest Kansas, didn’t see much rain this year. "This was one of the driest years on record," said Hamlin. "I knew it was going to be hard to get a crop out of it," he said.

Hot and dry weather throughout much of the country this year had many growers echoing Hamlin’s words. Years like this force farmers to reconsider their planting options, carefully examining the crops that are designed to handle tough drought conditions.

One of the crops farmers are considering is sorghum. Sorghum requires one-third less water than corn, is inexpensive to plant, and is available in hybrids resistant to sorghum midge, the insect pest that has been posing significant problems for southern areas, such as south central Texas. Experts anticipate that even more growers will be spreading their risk by planting sorghum because of these valuable traits.

Jeff Wright, a Texas-based development agronomist for Garst Seed Company, expects increases in both dry-land and irrigated sorghum. "I think more people will give serious consideration to sorghum because it was so dry this year," said Wright. "Even some who are irrigating may decide they need to consider something that doesn’t use as much water, especially since (water) levels aren’t what they have been in the past," Wright added. An important factor in this decision will be sorghum’s ability to yield well with less water than other crops.

According to Jeff Schaef, Garst agronomist covering western Kansas, western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, drought resistance is a key advantage of sorghum. "Sorghum is a great dry-land crop that can get by without as much water as corn or wheat," said Schaef. "The weather we saw this year shows just how important that can be."

Growers have been noticing better yields from sorghum in the drier regions. David Hutchins, a grower in southern Kansas, has noticed his Garst 5515 sorghum hybrid doing well in his rain-deprived northern fields. "The head is pushing its way through pretty good," said Hutchins. "I think this sorghum might do better there than other crops."

Farmers like Hutchins may see even better results in the future. Phil Kunz, sorghum product manager for Garst Seed Company, expects that new genetics from Australia and Argentina may help sorghum do even better in dry, hot weather. "We’ve seen improvement in the hybrids over the last couple of years, and this will continue," reported Kunz. "Overall it makes planting sorghum as a dry-land crop less risky than some alternatives," he added.

While grain sorghum can handle dry weather better than some crops, this benefit is completely lost if insects are allowed to destroy the crops’ yield potential. One such insect found in southern areas is sorghum midge.

Adult sorghum midge are small, orange insects that lay eggs in the developing spikelets of sorghum. Their larvae damage crops by feeding on the developing ovary, stopping normal seed development. One adult sorghum midge can lay up to 120 eggs a day, so populations increase fast.

"Sorghum midge infestation can go from no problem one day to a very high level in three or four days," said Bill Rooney, associate professor of soil and crop sciences at Texas A & M. "If it isn’t controlled, there can be nearly a 100 percent crop loss quickly," Rooney warned.

According to Rooney, the best way to prevent midge pressure is to plant early so the crop is through the bloom stage before midge pressure becomes an issue. Because planting early isn’t always possible, using a midge-resistant hybrid is a good safeguard.

"If it is a late-planting situation where midge will probably be a problem, I highly recommend planting a midge-resistant hybrid," said Rooney. "There are varieties on the market, like those offered by Garst, that do a very good job of handling midge."

Rooney is in the process of conducting a two-year study on sorghum hybrids with several colleagues at Texas A & M University. While results from the second year are not yet available, first-year results show that when sorghum is planted late, midge-resistant hybrids do better than those susceptible to sorghum midge. The study found that the top-five yielding hybrids in late plantings were midge-resistant, with Garst Seed Company’s 5515 topping the list.

Chris Hummel, a development agronomist for Garst Seed Company, agreed, "In general, midge resistance is a good attribute to have in sorghum," he said. "That way, growers are less likely to need to spray for the pest than with susceptible varieties. This saves the added expense of pesticide treatments," Hummel added.

Another reason growers are choosing sorghum is its low cost of planting. According to Hummel, sorghum seed is much less expensive to plant than many alternatives. "Depending on seeding rate, sorghum will cost around $10 an acre to plant, easily about half of what it costs to plant corn, soybeans or wheat," said Hummel.

Hutchins has noticed a significant cost difference between the price of sorghum and corn. "A bag of sorghum seed costs about $67, and you can cover about 15 acres with it," Hutchins reported. "A bag of corn runs about $100 to $120 and covers four to five acres," he said. These cost savings can add profitability to planting sorghum, especially in years so dry that all crops have trouble.

According to Schaef, growers can expect even better drought tolerance, yield and standability in years to come. "At Garst, we’re expanding our research on sorghum and working hard to bring even better genetics to market," said Schaef. "We’re working hard to help growers get the most out of their crops."

Even though this year was tough, Hamlin is already looking forward to growing sorghum next year. "Garst has some really good varieties," he said. "I can count on pretty good yields with them," he added.